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Friday, March 2, 2012

Nicaragua is a Central American nation bordered by Honduras, Costra Rica. The pacific Ocean lies to the west and Carribean sea to the east. It has a population of 6 million and Spanish is their official language. Managua is the capital city of Nicaragua.

Spanish Empire attempted to conquer the region in the beginning of the 16th century but faced resistance from the indigenous people. Conquistadors were people at the service of Spanish Empire. These people travelled & explored several part of earth and brought them under the control of the Empire. In 1524, Francisco Hernández de Córdoba founded two major towns in the region. He is considered as as the 'Founder of Nicaragua' and made the region a Spanish Colony. He was later captured and beheaded by Pedro Arias Davila (A Spanish Colonial administrator) following a power struggle.

Nicaragua achieved its independence from Spain in 1821. But had gone through severe political unrest, civil wars there after.

USA government wanted to build a Canal - waterway through Nicaragua to connect the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. Later they abondonded those plans and built such canal in Panama. USA didn't wanted any other european country to help Nicaragua in building the canal, thus ensuring their dominance in the region. There was a rebellion against the President Zelaya in 1909 & in the process of suppression of rebels, 2 american citizens were killed. Taking this as an opportunity USA army invaded Nicaragua in 1909, supported the rebels and over threw the President Zelaya's government. US Marines left only in 1933 after a new liberal governmet was setup. Members of Somoza dynasty ruled for four decades until the Nicaraguan Revolution in 1970's. Nicaragua is now the poorest nation in Central america with a huge unemployment and majority of its population living in poverty.

Interesting Facts:

Nicaragua is the largest & safest country in Central America

There are no numeric addresses in Nicaragua.

It has 2 UNESCO heritage sites

León Cathedral

Ruins of León Viejo ( The city which was abondoned during eruption of volcano Momotombo in 1578 )

Lake Nicaragua is the largest freshwater lake in Central America, which houses world's only freshwater sharks

Lake Nicaragua is also home to a dual volcano island. (Lake Island: An island in a lake)

In City Leon, While giving directions, they use Upstairs and Downstairs instead of east and west. (reference to Sun rises[Upstairs] & descends[downstairs])

There are 13 volcanos in Nicaragua

Baseball is the most famous sport unlike football in other latin american nations.

Notable people from Nicaragua:

Tony Meléndez was born without hands but was a famous guitarist. he even played for Pope John Paul II in 1987.

Augusto César Sandino - a famous revolutionary leader against the US Military Occupation of Nicaragua.

Clodomiro Picado Twight, a scientist who developed anti-venom serums. Also one of the precursors of the discovery of penicillin.

Eve Torres , a WWE Wrestler.

Córdoba is their currency & Each Córdoba is divided into 100 Centavos. Below image is of 5 Centavos

Francisco Hernández de CórdobaA Spanish Conquistadors, in 1524 started Spanish settlements in the region. He founded 2 major cities Granada & León. He has soon built defences for the cities and attacked other conquistador's incursions. Pedro Arias Dávila, the then colonial administer of central american region, considered córdoba as a potential threat to his political future. Hence ordered the decapitation of córdoba in 1526. His tomb and remains were discovered in 2000 in the Ruins of León Viejo.The currency of Nicaragua is named the córdoba in his memory.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Couple of years back when I went to post office to send a
letter to Poland, the person
at the counter asked me if ‘Poland’
is a country and where it is. I was very surprised but I patiently explained
him.

I am sure many of you might not have much information about
this country and here is my attempt to introduce to you a nation with a very
rich and great history.

Poland is
a Central European nation having borders with Germany,
CzechRepublic,
Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia
and Lithuania.
It has a population of over 38 million, which is less than half of my home
state Andhra Pradesh (India)
population. Złoty is currency of Poland.

Establishment of Polish state is believed to have begun with
the adaption of Christianity in 966 A.D. Kingdom of Poland formed
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569 by a treaty with rulers of Lithuania,
became Polish Republic. Their commonwealth survived till 1795 until Kingdom of Prussia,
the Russian Empire & Austria attacked, partitioned & eliminated the
sovereign state Poland.
After 123 years, Poland
regained its sovereignty in 1918 by a revolution. After 20 years, Nazi Germany
& Soviet Union invaded Poland,
marking the beginning of World War 2. Poland lost over 5 million people
in war & many more in subsequent homicide of Jews by Nazis. Red Army was
able to defeat Nazi’s and set up a communist rule in 1944. In 1980, Lech
Walesa, a union leader started ‘Solidarity Movement’ a revolution against the
communists, successfully over threw their rule in 1989 & democratic rule was re-established.
Even though Poland
was vastly destroyed in World War2, they managed to rebuild their country and were
able to achieve huge development since then.

Poland
was repeatedly attacked by neighbouring countries, lost its sovereignty but
they never gave up and I truly admire their spirit.

Some interesting facts about Poland

·Constitution of May 3, 1791 is considered
as the 2nd oldest constitution in modern history. It was in effect
for only a year, until the Polish–Russian War of 1792.

·Poland
has 12 Nobel awards (11 Laureates). Marie-Curie won 2 Nobels.

·Poland
has 13 UNESCO Heritage sites

·Polish Army salutes with only 2 fingers.

·Poland
was the first country to produce Vodka

·Poland’s
official language is considered one of the toughest languages to learn. For eg:
Number 2- ‘dwa’ can be written in 17 ways.

·90% of poles complete the secondary school
education

Famous people from Poland

·Nicolaus Copernicus, in 1543 proved that Earth
revolves around Sun.

·Frédéric Chopin, He is considered by many to be
the greatest piano music composer.

·Joseph Babinski, the famous neurologist is from
Polish descent.

·Holy Father Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla)

·Marie Skłodowska-Curie: Discoverer of
'polonuim','radium'. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only
woman to date to win in two fields, and the only person to win in multiple
sciences.

·Casimir Funk: A biochemist who is generally
credited with the first formulation of concept of vitamins in 1912

·Napoleon Cybulski: The discoverer of adrenaline,
he was the first to isolate and identify the substance in 1895.

He was the duke of Polans between 930 to 992 A.D. Being a Pagan by birth, he adapted Christianity in 966 making it the traditional year of origin of Polish state.

Bolesław I Chrobry

He is the son of the Mieszko I (above) & the first King of Poland. Played a crucial role in establishing Kingdom of Poland, thus reducing dependency on German Empire. He was coronated as a King in 1025 A.D & died just 2 months later.

If you are interested in getting to know 'Why Mieszko I is not a king & just a duke'? Answer is at the bottom of the post.

Mieszko Denar (Silver Denar)

One of the silver coin during Mieszko's rule.

Chrobry Denar

One of the Silver coin during Bolesław I Chrobry's rule

Dziesięć means 'TEN' & Złotych is their currency

Dwadzieścia means 'Twenty'

Coat of Arms / National Emblem of Poland

A white eagle with golden beak and a crown, looking to its right.

Translation "The banknotes emitted/produced by the National Bank of Poland are a legal currency in Poland."

Narodowy Bank Polski (NBP; the National Bank of Poland) is the central bank of Poland. It controls the issuing of Poland's currency, the złoty. It also represents Poland in the European System of Central Banks, an EU organization.

WARSZAWA (Warsaw) is the capital of Poland.

Signatures of Poland National Bank's President & Treasurer.

Q) Why Mieszko I is not a king & just a duke? Why did he adapted Christianity?Q) Why Bolesław I Chrobry is famous? How the 'Kingdom of Poland' was formed?

Mieszko was a born Pagan. But he adapted Christianity in 966 because Christianity was on rise in europe. Pope & Church were ruling the europe and dukes were representatives of a church. To become a king & create a kingdom, Coronation by Pope is required. it never happened during the times of Mieszko. Thus he remained Duke all his life but indirectly the creator of polish kingdom.

Bolesław I Chrobry is the son of Mieszko. He was a duke for 33 years till 1025. German Emperor Otton III was very much impressed with Chrobry. He recommended Pope to coronate Chrobry as a king. Following the death of Otton III in 1002, his successor Henry II opposed kingdom of Poland. Chrobry waged successful war against Henry II who was killed in 1024. Finally in 1025, Chrobry was coronated, hence the Kingdom of Poland was formed, which in turn removed the dependency on German Empire.

*This is my own research and is not copied from anywhere.*Thanks to all those friends who supported and helped me in preparing this data

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The grades specified by the International Bank Note Society (IBNS) are as follows

Grade

Description

UNC

Uncirculated

A
banknote that is bright and has no handling damage, such as folds or creases,
nor any cuts, stains, or rounded corners

AU

About
uncirculated

A banknote
that is still bright but has trivial handling damage, i.e. a light centre
fold (not a crease, which is a break of the fibres of the paper), without
rounded corners

XF or EF

Extremely
fine

a
banknote with one crease or up to three light folds. Paper still bright and
attractive, very slight wear to corners allowed

VF

Very Fine

Note
still attractive, but possible slight dirt or smudging, may have several
horizontal and/or vertical folds. Paper remains relatively crisp. No tears, but
slight wear to edges and corners is allowable.

F

Fine

Paper is
now slightly soft, considerable wear due to folds from use in circulation.
Minor tears to note, not extending into the design. Clear but not bright in
appearance. Staple holes but not holes due to folding.

VG

Very Good

Much
wear. Paper is limp. Tears can extend into the design. Staining possible.
Discoloration possible. Hole at center caused by folding allowable. Note
still looks presentable.

G

Good

Very much
wear, as VG, but more so. Graffiti on note. Small pieces of the note may be
missing

Fair

Larger
pieces of note torn off/missing, compared with G. Less of the note intact

Notaphily is the study of paper money or banknotes. A notaphilist is a collector ofbanknotes, paper money, paper currency or plastic notes.

I have always wondered how this world would function without currency. It's quiteunimaginable to follow barter system in the 21st century.

For several centuries, coins were used to pay for the variety of items, they were animportant part of the exchange process. It is believed that paper currency was firstdeveloped in the 7th century in China.

Notaphily is not as popular as Philately & coin collection but in recent times many peoplehave been showing interest in collecting currency notes.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

We all live such busy lives that its very tough to find time to get to know about something beyond our interests. Different people have different prejudices and perceptions about the outside world.
Hobbies like Notaphily or Philately might give a person an opportunity to learn more about people of other cultures and countries.
As far as creating this blog is considered, my sole objective is to bring together all possible pieces of information about a country through its currency note. After all, each note contains some images that are definitely worth to be discovered and learnt. I hope that the content of this blog will create curiosity among all of those readers who are eager to meet the world of currency notes.

As a young boy, I was always very curious about different coins and currency notes. However, I never seriously collected them. For many years I was occupied with busy college life, then my job, proving myself, learning new stuff etc.Then I started focusing on many aspects which I was interested in back in school days. Currency notes collection was one of them but I didn’t have a clue how to collect notes professionally. I wanted to buy them from my colleagues who had gone abroad. The problem was that they always had high denominations which I simply couldn’t afford.

Finally, for my 24th birthday, I received the best gift in my lifetime. It was a set of over 20 currency notes from various nations. Later on, one of my friends kept on supporting me and my collection. I also managed to buy some items from other collectors.I decided to collect at least one currency note from every country on this planet. I also thought that doing some research on the notes I have, would be a good idea. It was supposed to concern not only the country the notes come from but also words, emblems, signatures and images which are presented on each and every one of them.

As of today, I have over 120 currency notes from about 80 countries, but it doesn’t change the fact that I still have a long way to go.